Arafat linked Palestine to the will of people

For two weeks now, I have been trying to write something "different" about the Arab world. Whenever I start working on a new topic, however, something comes up in Palestine and overshadows everything else in the Middle East.

At the moment, it seems like Yasser Arafat's nearly two-month siege in Ramallah is open-ended.

Israeli military officials are speaking of a new offensive, gunning down Palestinians, destroying homes, and considering the possibility of re-occupying territory located in Area A, supposedly under Palestinian jurisdiction. (The article was written before Israel took over the West Bank town of Tulkarem yesterday).

These "possibilities" were made by the Deputy Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon to the Jerusalem Post on January 17. Adding insult to injury is an increasing rift in the Palestinian leadership, with the latest arrest of Ahmad Saadat, the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Saadat, who was arrested by Arafat, is wanted in Israel for ordering the killing of an Israeli minister in October 2001. His arrest has split the Pal-estinian movement right in two, with some supporting Arafat's move (a minority), and the masses calling for Saadat's release.

Ultimatum

On January 18, the PFLP military branch went as far as to present Arafat with an ultimatum, asking that he release their leader, or face the killing of his own officials – a demand that could threaten his life as well.

For the first time since the intifada began, the hard-boiled Arafat seems to be losing it. Old age, anger, despair, and impatience seem to be finally getting the best of Abu Amr. What hurts him the most, however, is having lost the faith that Palestinians and Arabs once had in him.

In 1988, Arafat was described by one reporter as having been born "with the cunning of a bazaar merchant, the now you see-it-now-you-don't hands of a magician, the balance of a tightrope walker, and most importantly, the skin of a chameleon which took on whatever political colours were in season."

This was true for the better part of his career, stretching from1968 until the present. We as Arabs convinced ourselves that this was also true even after the intifada broke out in September 2000. On a personal level, my views on Arafat since then have fluctuated like never before.

Despite my sincere admiration for the man, I wrote an article for The Daily Star in October 2000, two weeks after the uprising began, entitled, Obituary of the Arab Che Guevara. This article was turned down by the newspaper editor, who argued that the intifada was the biggest face-lift in Arafat's career.

As the intifada progressed, Arafat managed to recapture his long-lost glory as revolutionary leader of the Palestinians. Arafat returned to the limelight by absenting himself from the latest struggle.

By refusing to crack down on the intifada leaders, he was in fact, giving his blessing to the movement. Pretty soon, however, as the Palestinian funerals increased, he was reduced to a marginal observer who could do nothing but sit back and watch as the people retaliated against Israeli aggression.

Observer

He became as much an observer of events, than a maker, as any one of us. Prior to the siege of Ramallah in December 2001, it was clear that nobody was listening to Arafat anymore – neither the Israelis, nor the Americans, nor the Arabs.

Although the Americans and Arabs joined a chorus of condemnation to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's earlier comments, claiming that Arafat was finished and was "irrelevant" to the ongoing crisis, no steps have been taken to prove otherwise.

For a brief period, amidst all the shouting, Hamas seemed willing to listen, yet reneged on its policies following the latest January 2002 Israeli onslaughts. Early on, Arafat boasted, "The keys to the intifada are in my hands." Obviously, events have proven otherwise.

A short while ago, I visited one of Arafat's long-time allies in Lebanon, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, to discuss the latest in Palestine. Jumblatt was one of Palestine's loudest advocates, having allied himself with Arafat in 1982 to ward off the invading Israeli forces of Sharon.

In August 1983, forced out of Lebanon under Israeli orders, Arafat held a farewell reception at Jumblatt's Beirut palace. A Palestinian author present at the reception remembered, "As Arafat turned about to leave, I sobbed my heart out as the women threw rice in a last gesture of farewell. I cried for our lost Arab nationalism (exemplified by Arafat), the indifference of the Arab world, and the thought of the Israelis at Beirut Airport."

As Arafat headed onto the gangplank, ready to board the Greek liner Atlantis, scheduled to banish him from Beirut, Jumblatt took out a pistol and fired into the air in salute.

Jumblatt, and many of those around, wept as the PLO Chairman took his final leave. At the time, with no Palestine in sight and battles raging on in Lebanon, West Beirut might as well have been Jerusalem for Yasser Arafat. Here he was leaving it in defeat and the Arab world was lamenting the turn of events – cursing him for his blunders yet weeping for his fate.

Many of the Muslims who had supported him during the war now blamed him for the Israeli invasion and sincerely wanted him to leave – but not in such a humiliating manner. With a nullified Arab leadership failing to speak out in his favour, the only ones who did were the Muslims of Lebanon. "To hell with the Arab world," a tear-filled Jumblatt was saying, "we are the only Arabs left (who will speak out for him)."

Today, Jumblatt tells me, "Poor Arafat. We do not want to gloat at him today, but what is happening is the result of accumulated mistakes, both on his part and on the part of the Arabs."

He added, "Today, I believe that Arafat is finished. Israel wants to get rid of him both politically and physically. Even the PA, according to the news, is finished."

When asking about whether Arafat will be able to balance out between Israeli demands and Palestinian aspirations, Jumblatt cut me short and snapped, "Impossible – he will not be able to manage. Bush wants Arafat to kill his people. Arafat can arrest some and silence a few others, but he cannot kill his people."

Painful

The pitiful comment, coming from one of Arafat's loudest friends, was alarming and painful. Back then, unlike today, the world wept for Yasser Arafat's misery.

Thomas Friedman, the New York Times correspondent in Beirut, described his exodus saying, "the PLO itself was never quite the same after it quit Lebanon, and neither for that matter was the Arab world. Something in the Arab world died on August 30, 1982," the day Arafat left Beirut.

Today, Arafat is destined to leave the political scene altogether, and there are no gunshots, there is no rice tossed in the air, and there is no one to see him off at the gangplank.

The most striking parallel between Arafat then and Arafat today is comparing Arafat on August 30, 1982, the date of his exodus, and Arafat on October 9, 1982, the date of his first post-Lebanon public appearance. It was at an Amman gathering a